The AIMday process
From preparation to follow-up – a process of approximately six to eight months with six defined steps
All universities are trying to establish the best methods of knowledge exchange and, up to now, this has taken something of a scattergun approach. This is why we are encouraged by the prospect of the structured method offered by AIMday.
1. Plan and prepare
The preparatory work includes everything from developing the essential timeline for your AIMday event, choosing a theme and creating a committed working group, to defining both the external organisations and the academic researchers who are interested in collaborating and discussing their challenges and needs. Other activities of a more practical nature involve booking premises and developing marketing materials.
It is also a good idea to consider whether tit is possible to finance feasibility studies. Experience shows that the possibility of financing one or more researchers provides opportunities to quickly get started on pilots based on challenges that have been discussed at the event.
2. Invite organisations to submit challenges
Define which organisations and companies you want to invite, contact them and book meetings to tell them about the AIMday concept. An organisation that wants to participate in AIMday needs to submit at least one challenge – this will be their entry ticket. The starting point is a concrete challenge or a need of knowledge that the organisation has identified and that hopefully opens the way for continued collaboration after an initial conversation with researchers at an AIMday. To get an idea of what challenges can look like, have a look in our Event database.
Have a look in our Event database
3. Invite researchers to sign up for submitted challenges
When registration for challenges from organisations has closed, you will have a list of submitted challenges. Now it is time to open registration for academic researchers. The list of challenges is public and researchers can go through the questions at their leisure and then register their interest in the challenges they want to discuss. The researchers' choice of challenges they want to discuss and their prioritisation among them forms the basis for the matching process.
Since a fundamental idea of AIMday is that each challenge benefits from being illuminated from different, and perhaps unexpected, perspectives, it is a good idea to invite a wide range of academic fields. In this way, exciting meetings are created between researchers who would not normally meet. The purpose of the workshop is not so much to answer the question as to have a discussion that will contribute knowledge that can shed new light on the challenge, and lead to new insights and ideas about possible solutions.
4. Matchmaking and scheduling
Based on the researchers' choices, priorities and availability, it is the organiser's task to create the most optimal programme possible. The scheduler provided by Uppsala University facilitates the work, saves time, and improves the quality of matching and scheduling. The tool also provides personalised programmes for all participants.
5. The day of the event
Finally, the day of the event arrives. While all the preparation will pay off, you need to be prepared for last-minute changes. Make sure you have registration lists, contact information for participants, and extra copies of both the full-day programme and individual programmes available. Bring the whole team along, not just to be prepared for questions and last-minute changes, but also to take the opportunity to network and connect with all participants.
6. Follow-up
AIMday has every potential to function as a springboard for new collaborations between academia and society. External organisations and researchers get a chance to meet and start conversations about actual challenges that can often be best solved through collaboration. By following up on the discussions held at an AIMday, you gain insight into how collaboration between those involved develops in the long term, but also what AIMday has contributed to in the short term. How and when you choose to follow up in practice is determined by the goals you initially set for your AIMday event.
If you have enabled feasibility studies, it is time to review who has expressed interest and how you will proceed with them. It is also good to see if it is possible to identify other funding opportunities and calls for proposals that you believe could be good ways to take certain collaborations further.
More about features and the toolbox
Explore the many smart features that will help you succeed with your AIMday.